CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- The Center for Energy and Environmental Education (CEEE) will show the documentary "Gasland," directed by Josh Fox, from 7 to 9 p.m., on Monday, Sept. 19, in the CEEE auditorium at the University of Northern Iowa. The film explores a new method used in obtaining natural gas and the effects it has on the environment.

Fox first learned of this drilling campaign in 2009 when he was offered $100,000 to lease his land for drilling. He soon found out his home was directly above a rock formation containing the natural gas that was sought after. This new method of obtaining natural gas is called hydraulic fracturing, otherwise known as "fracking." Fox also came to understand that his home was merely a small piece of the 34-state drilling campaign, the largest natural gas-drilling boom in history.

The film portrays the harmful effects fracking has on land and the people who reside around these areas. The main concern regarding fracking and the areas affected is water contamination, in that researchers suspect at least 65 chemicals used in the fracking process are hazardous. Kamyar Enshayan, director of the CEEE, thinks, "In the same way that we had to come to terms with the moral troubles of slavery, we need to come to terms with the real consequences of our troublesome dependence on fossil energy."